On Graphic Design
2009
(edited 2011)
1. Graphic design is the art of organizing visual symbols
Graphic design constructs itself with a visual language that corresponds to the complexity of relationships which we are already sensible with in life. Using shapes, colors and, sometimes, the element of time, this visual language can indirectly mimic or invent objects, feelings, and situations. People, such as graphic designers, interpret and represent these materials over flat surfaces.
Frequently, graphic design has been mis-introduced as simply a range of applications including typography, print, identity, video, interactive media etc. At other times, graphic design has been mis-equated to the creative idea. Regardless of the application or the idea, graphic design is, first and foremost, a carrier of intricate visual symbols united by a coherent logic.
Different applications of graphic design emphasize a different involvement to the notion of visual symbols. For example, conventional typography is inherently closer to linguistics, while identity design is closer to semiotics—for the freedom of additional visual marks it can employ. Graphic design operates like a hidden hand that supplies existing symbols with a stronger description by the way in which they are combined. It is the meta reservoir standing by.
2. I make graphic design to expand an aura
Always embodied to the surface of physical beings, graphic design has no dimensionality. This is the same attribute that also makes it easily seize the bulk of our everyday vision. Graphic design floats on every plane it finds its way to. Already highly plastic and manipulable in nature, graphic design is, at the same time, a medium with great potential to reshape our seen environment.
Unlike art, graphic design explicitly initiates an external dialogue by utilizing visual symbols and structures that are built universally. It melts with our loose memory and unfolds meanings and emotions accordingly. Every part of a piece of graphic design has as strong a relationship to the particulars of reality as to another part within the design.
I make graphic design with the awareness of the relationship it has to extrinsic references. The constellation of patterns that graphic design shares with the universe gives each work a distinct aura. Like a garden or a chair, graphic design offers us a mixture of form, color, human touch, and natural force—it has the ability to move us. I push for the full extent of this capacity.
1. 平面设计即视觉符号之组织艺术。
构成平面设计中的视觉语言直接对应于我们生活中已感知的复杂关系。这种视觉语言可以透过形状、色彩、以及时而的时间因素，间接地模仿或创建物体、感情及情形。平面设计者等人群则在有表层的平面体上诠释并表现这些内容。
往往，平面设计过于简单地被误归类为一系列的应用产品，包括排版、印刷、标识、视频、互动媒体等。另外，平面设计还常被误等同于富有创意的想法。抛开它的应用与思想，平面设计首先是一个由贯穿的逻辑所统一的精细的视觉符号载体。
不同的平面设计范畴突出不同形式的视觉符号的参与。例如，传统的排版本身更接近语言学，而标识设计更接近于符号学，因为后者可以自如地利用更多的视觉记号。平面设计的运作就像一只幕后的手，它通过重组现有的符号为它们提供更强烈的刻画。它是一座属性后备库。
2. 我做平面设计，是为了延展某种气息。
平面设计始终具体化于物质的表层，它没有维度。也正是这种特性使它轻易地占据了我们大量的日常视觉景象。平面设计漂浮在一切它所能触及到的平面体上。由于它高度的可塑性与操控性，平面设计是一支具备重塑我们视觉环境的巨大潜力之媒介。
不同于艺术，平面设计通过运用普遍建立起的视觉符号与构造，启动一桩桩明确的外部对话。它与我们松动的记忆融于一体，从而流露出其相应含义和情感。平面设计作品中的每一个部分都拥有与现实的特定的有力联系，如同与作品中其它部分之间的联系一样。
我带着对于它与外界参照关系的意识从事平面设计。每个平面设计都与宇宙的某种群体规律相重叠，从而获得其独特的氛围。平面设计如同一个花园或一把椅子，为我们提供一种混合体，包含形、色、人的参与、以及自然力。它有能力感染我们。我力求最大限度地推动这种能力。
great~